by Jay | Jul 31, 2015 | Blog, Classical Guitar Arrangements, Music
This is a full arrangement of the Romanze, for advanced players. It’s quite amenable to the classical guitar…but the third section was a special challenge to transcribe, with it’s call/answer figurations between the high and low voices while at the...
by Jay | Jul 31, 2015 | Archipelago, Art, Blog, Compositions, Music
I’m exploring an extended group of Islands that have been hidden from Google Maps due to their aural nature. The musical ecology I have found so far in this journey seems to draw its inspiration from many parts of the globe. And yet each island in this hitherto...
by Jay | Feb 8, 2012 | Blog, Classical Guitar Basics, Guitar Lessons
I’m reading a book called Guitar Zero, by Gary Marcus, a cognitive scientist who decided he was going to fulfill his dream of playing guitar at the age of 40, no matter how scary that seemed and no matter how humiliating his previous attempts had been....
by Jay | Nov 17, 2011 | Blog, Classical Guitar Basics, Guitar Lessons
If you really want others to enjoy what you play, you need to be enjoying yourself. They call it self-expression, but how can you fully express yourself if you aren’t fully connected to yourself or to the music? How can you fully express yourself if everything...
by Jay | Nov 2, 2011 | Blog, Guitar Lessons
When you learn to play an instrument like the classical guitar there’s plenty to worry about. Your hand position. Your other hand position. Coordinating your hands (and your fingers) with each other. Your fingering. Your sitting position. Your repertoire. Your...
by Jay | Sep 27, 2011 | Blog, Guitar Lessons
I was never much of a music theory whiz. Music theory was required for music majors—lots of music theory—and it always felt like I was cramming a toolkit into my brain that my brain didn’t quite see the need for—-the tools were for fixing...
